Eastern Conference Playoff Outlook
Still very early.
There are seven net positive teams in the East: Boston 7.8, Toronto 7.0, Washington 3.8, Philadelphia 2.2, Detroit 2.2, Indiana 1.1 and Cleveland 0.7. Not surprisingly each of those seven have winning records.
So far the East hasn’t seen much separation, with the exception of Atlanta and Chicago who are both dreadful. Boston is still the class of the East, and that will likely continue all season long, but behind them, second place Detroit and tenth place Milwaukee are separated by 3.5 games.
Cleveland has begun to turn it around, mostly because LeBron James is nearly unstoppable, which helps them overcome their dreadful defense and rebounding. It just feels like a matter of time before the Cavs and Pacers run down the resilient Pistons. Milwaukee needs to find a post player otherwise they’re going to be stuck at .500 forever. I base this on nothing but common sense, they would be a good fit for DeAndre Jordan.
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If I’m picking eight playoff teams: Boston, Cleveland, Washington, Toronto, Indiana, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee, would be the eight.